Truce called in war over Viking relics

Archaeologists trying to trace how the Vikings arrived in Yorkshire as feared raiders and quickly became (fairly) peaceful traders and farmers have called a truce with people they used to fear as raiders: metal detectorists.

These enthusiastic amateurs have been unearthing more Viking finds than professional archaeologists in recent years but damaging the sites by digging them up.

But this summer York University academics are working alongside local detectorists after deciding there is more to be gained by cooperation than trying to warn them off. Their three-year project under the rather unromantic title, the Viking and Anglo-Saxon Landscape and Economy project (Vasle), builds on the success of the government's 1997 Portable Antiquities Scheme which has led to the recording of tens of thousands of objects found by the public.

Julian Richards, a professor at the department of archaeology at York, said: "Archaeologists have had great difficulty locating Anglo-Saxon and Viking settlements. Now, much of the material found by metal detectorists comes from the 7th to the early 10th century and it is crucial that we bring these items into the realms of research."

While he is interested in the economy of the Danelaw, as the northern part of England became known, metal detectorists are more interested in buried treasure.

Among their spectacular recent finds was the burial site of six Viking men and women, complete with swords and spears, jewellery, firemaking materials and riding equipment, near Cumwhitton, Cumbria, dated to the early 10th century. It was unearthed following the discovery of two copper brooches by a local metal detectorist.

In 2003 the "Ainsbrook Hoard" of late ninth-century weapons and personal items including silver coins was found in Yorkshire.

One of the metal detectorists taking part in the project is Dave Haldenby, of Elloughton, east Yorkshire, who said: "In the past there has been some animosity between metal detectorists and archaeologists but, increasingly, they are working together, as this project illustrates. There's a terrific sense of pride in seeing an excavation which would never have happened without hours of painstaking work in plotting finds."

Professor Richards commented: "We hope it will tell us more about the cultural identity of the people who lived in the Danelaw. There were probably very small numbers of true Vikings though their influence far outweighed their actual numbers."

He added: "Once we have identified the richest sites, we will be able to build up a picture of what's been found. Effectively, these sites are a fingerprint of economic activity and they will help us to complete the final part of the project which will be to write an economic and landscape history of England from the 7th to the 10th century."